Worth Repeating: Piracy in China isn't just DVDs and designer knockoffs. It's epidemic and it can be deadly

from CBC.ca archives | Mon, 10 Apr 2006

From a column by Mike Hornbrook

�With piracy so rampant in China, it's often hard to tell which products are the real thing and meet standards expected by the marketplace. Automakers have been sourcing parts from Chinese factories for vehicles they build around the globe. While legitimate factories produce parts that meet company and government specifications, that's often not the case with unlicensed parts. �

There have been tragic cases of counterfeit baby formula sold in rural China, where poverty is widespread and people are always hunting for bargains. In a recent case, a couple watched their infant get weaker and weaker on a formula diet. By the time the distraught parents bought their son to the hospital, there was nothing the doctors could do and the baby died. His formula was found to contain no more nutrients than tap water.